KOLOA — In the mid-1960s, Koloa resident Suzanne Pearson visited a former Nazi concentration camp near Zweibrücken, Germany, where her father was stationed as a member of the Royal Canadian Air Force.
KOLOA — In the mid-1960s, Koloa resident Suzanne Pearson visited a former Nazi concentration camp near Zweibrücken, Germany, where her father was stationed as a member of the Royal Canadian Air Force.
“The lady that lived next door — her name was Oma, which is ‘Grandma’ — she told my parents that there was a concentration camp that was open,” Pearson said, in conjunction with International Holocaust Remembrance Day, which lands on Jan. 27 annually.
“She said that she saw the smoke from the oven every day, and smelled burnt flesh. Oma told my parents, ‘What can I do? I was an old woman.’”
Pearson’s family visited the camp, following their interaction with Oma.
“I remember seeing baby shoes next to the oven … They had a cart where they would throw people in that were sick or couldn’t work anymore, that would empty them out into mass graves that went on for miles. And me being 10, I was short, I couldn’t see the end of the grave.”
Pearson concluded her tour in a building where victims were stripped of their possessions before entering the gas chambers.
“There were piles and piles of clothes and suitcases still there. Millions were tortured, killed, starved.”
Pearson continues to reflect decades later.
“These people were persecuted because of their religion. I’m closing with a quote: ‘Those who forget the past are destined to repeat it.’”
•••
Scott Yunker, reporter, can be reached at 245-0437 or syunker@thegardenisland.com.
